unarmed forceshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/taxonomy/term/7184/all
enArmed Forces Day and parallel lives in a Suffolk townhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15024
<p><a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15024" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Peace and Wararmed forces dayarmed servicesconflict resolutionEnglish Defence Leaguequakersunarmed forcesBlogSun, 26 Jun 2011 21:46:48 +0000Jill Segger15024 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukMaking armed force redundanthttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15017
<p><a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15017" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Peace and WarNews BriefArmed Forcesarmed forces daychristian peacemaker teamscptEdinburghlondon mennonite centremennonitemennonitesron siderunarmed forcesBlogFri, 24 Jun 2011 23:12:30 +0000Simon Barrow15017 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukChristian NGO says Armed Forces Day ignores the real questionshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12467
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<p>The Prime Minister is using Armed Forces Day to avoid difficult questions about war and security, according to leading peacemaking Christian NGO the Fellowship of Reconciliation.</p>
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<p>The Prime Minister is using Armed Forces Day to avoid difficult questions about war and security, according to a leading Christian NGO. The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) made the remarks after David Cameron told the British public that they should back the armed forces “more loudly and more proudly”.</p>
<p>The UK's second Armed Forces Day will take place on Saturday (26 June 2010), with a main event in Cardiff and other celebrations around the country. Speaking ahead of the Day, Cameron insisted the public had a “social responsibility” to support troops.</p>
<p>But FoR's Amy Hailwood said, “Armed Forces Day this year has provided David Cameron with a timely opportunity to promote support for British troops and the war in Afghanistan, as he hopes to stave off difficult questions about the defence budget in the midst of major public sector cuts”. </p>
<p>FoR point out that the current annual spend on the war in Afghanistan is estimated at around £4 billion. Although the government this week announced major spending cuts and a freeze in child benefit, ministers have indicated that the Ministry of Defence is likely to experience fewer cuts than most other departments. </p>
<p>Hailwood said that support for those who have lost loved ones is essential. She added, “the question that won’t be asked in the patriotic fervour of this military pageant is, does a military approach to national security actually work?”</p>
<p>Recent polls suggest that the majority of the British public are now less keen on military approaches than the leaders of all three main political parties. Two polls in recent weeks have shown over three-quarters of the public to be in favour of military withdrawal from Afghanistan within a year, while the majority also oppose the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system.</p>
<p>Hailwood cited a discussion in this week's episode of Channel 4's <em>Dispatches</em>, which included an interactive poll on spending cuts. Slashing the Ministry of Defence budget was the third most popular of the options suggested. </p>
<p>FoR is encouraging support for a five-day walk organised by the group Justice Not Vengeance. The walkers will demonstrate outside the Ministry of Defence on Saturday before walking to Colchester, where former soldier Joe Glenton is in a military prison for refusing to fight in Afghanistan. </p>
<p>Along with other campaigners, they are backing “counter-recruitment” events at military recruitment offices in London and elsewhere.</p>
<p>The Religious Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, are urging the government to recognise the work done by the “unarmed forces” - those who promote and maintain peace without violence. </p>
<p>Sam Walton of Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) said that Quakers recognise the reality of “the inevitable tensions arising from international relations” but reject the notion that the only or best response is constantly to “train in readiness for war”.</p>
<p>He told the Quaker magazine <em>The Friend</em> that ministers could spend public money better by putting “resources into developing and training for non-military ways of solving conflicts and averting wars”.</p>
<p>Quakers have pointed out several examples of “unarmed forces”. They include Responding to Conflict (RTC), which provides training and support in skills such as mediation and conflict transformation. Other schemes include the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), a project run by the World Council of Churches, who place volunteers to provide a protective presence and human rights monitoring. </p>
<p>The Christian thinktank Ekklesia has also questioned the government's promotion of Armed Forces Day, pointing out that the Prime Minister's enthusiastic comments came the day after a United Nations report highly criticial of the UK's military operations in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>“Historically, governments that try to shift attention away from economic crisis and foreign policy flaws by whipping up patriotism, risk being seen as patronising the public and failing to recognise the real policy challenges,” said Ekklesia Co-Director Simon Barrow, “A different approach is needed.” </p>
<p>Ekklesia is reiterating its six-point proposal to move government security strategy from armed force to conflict prevention and transformation (<a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/government-urged-focus-conflict-resolution-not-military-rhetoric" title="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/government-urged-focus-conflict-resolution-not-military-rhetoric">http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/government-urged-focus-conflict-resolu...</a>).</p>
<p>[Ekk/1/3]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Peace and WarNews BriefArmed Forcesarmed forces daynonviolencePeaceUK Newsunarmed forcesThu, 24 Jun 2010 16:30:36 +0000staff writers12467 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukSenior chaplain suggests that clergy should avoid criticising warhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11239
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<p>The Royal Navy’s most senior chaplain has triggered controversy by appearing to ask clergy not to criticise the war in Afghanistan or government military policy. He said that critical comments from the pulpit could damage morale.</p>
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<p>The Royal Navy’s most senior chaplain has triggered controversy by appearing to ask clergy not to criticise the war in Afghanistan or other aspects of government military policy.</p>
<p>Addressing the Church of England General Synod yesterday (10 February), John Green, Chaplain of the Fleet and Archdeacon of the Royal Navy, said “Some of you might think it is appropriate to stand in the pulpit and talk about Government defence policy in a theological context. But when you do, please be aware of the position of armed forces personnel and their families”. </p>
<p>Green asked clergy not to “engage in megaphone or shotgun diplomacy because quite often the people who are injured in that sort of approach, or whose morale is most challenged, are those who are suffering already.” </p>
<p>However, he acknowledged that, “It is very important in a democracy that the national Church engages with people with views about pacifism on one side and the use of military force on the other”. </p>
<p>The Synod was hearing presentations on the role of armed forces chaplains amidst concerns of a shortfall in their numbers. It has been reported that the Church of England is having difficulty recruiting clergy to fulfill the role. </p>
<p> “Of course clergy need to be sensitive about the effect of their remarks from the pulpit,” said Symon Hill, co-director of the Christian thinktank Ekklesia. </p>
<p>He went on, “However, John Green seemed to go beyond this and imply that churches should refrain from challenging government policy and looking critically at the effects of the war in Afghanistan. Such an approach would be unfair to all those involved in the Afghan conflict, including British soldiers. </p>
<p>“We are no longer in a Christendom situation, in which the Church is allied to the state. The churches are able to use their freedom to speak prophetically and to promote creative solutions to conflict.” </p>
<p>Recent years have seen calls for a radical overhaul of the churches’ approach to chaplaincy. Both Ekklesia and the Fellowship of Reconciliation have called for chaplains to be appointed to the 'unarmed forces' of nonviolent peacemakers around the world. </p>
<p>Projects such as Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), Responding to Conflict and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) all send unarmed peacemakers into conflict zones, where they work with local people to promote reconciliation and human rights. </p>
<p>The latest controversy comes as the UK government prepares to involve 4,000 troops in a new offensive in Helmand province of Afghanistan. </p>
<p>The death toll of UK soldiers in Afghanistan recently reached 256, exceeding the number of British armed forces deaths in the Falklands war. The death toll amongst Afghan civilians is not formally recorded.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Peace and WarReligion and SocietyNews BriefAfghanistanArmed Forcesarmed forces chaplainsgeneral synodmilitary chaplainsnonviolent peacemakersUK Newsunarmed forcesThu, 11 Feb 2010 10:23:31 +0000staff writers11239 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukTime for a bishop to the 'unarmed forces'http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9942
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<div class="field-item"><p>Following the announcement by the Church of England of a new bishop to the armed forces, the think-tank Ekklesia is suggesting that it is time there was also a bishop to the 'unarmed forces'.</p>
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</div>Peace and Warbishop to the unarmed forcesMedia CentrepeacebuildingpeacemakingPress Releasesunarmed forcesMon, 20 Jul 2009 14:59:14 +0000Press Office9942 at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk